Химикал Банк: Нью-Йорк тарихы мен JPMorgan Chase-ке дейінгі жол

Former bank based in New York City
the former bank headquartered in New York City
Beginning in 1920 and accelerating in the 1980s and 1990s, Chemical was a leading consolidator of the U. S. banking industry, acquiring Chase Manhattan Bank, Manufacturers Hanover, Texas Commerce Bank and Corn Exchange Bank, among others. After 1968, the bank operated as the primary subsidiary of a bank holding company that was eventually renamed Chemical Banking Corporation. In 1996, Chemical acquired Chase Manhattan Corporation in a merger valued at $10 billion, creating the largest financial institution in the United States. Although Chemical was the acquiring company and the nominal survivor, the merged bank adopted the Chase name, which was considered to be better known, particularly internationally. What was once Chemical forms the core of today's JPMorgan Chase.

Chemical Bank was the principal operating subsidiary of the Chemical Banking Corporation, a bank holding company. As of the end of 1995, before its merger with the Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical was the third largest bank in the United States by total assets, with $182.9 billion. The Chemical Banking Corporation was the fifth largest bank holding company in terms of total assets. which is a division of TCF Financial Corporation and is expected to be a surviving brand in their merger.) Chemical bought additional land next to its building in 1879 and 1887 but its offices remained modest through the start of the 20th century. In 1907, the bank constructed a new headquarters on the original and adjacent properties at 270 Broadway, with architect Goodhue Livingston of Trowbridge & Livingston. In 1921, Chemical acquired a 13 story building belonging to the Shoe & Leather Bank on Broadway, next door to and surrounded by its existing properties. Despite expanding its 1907 headquarters over the years, by the mid 1920s Chemical needed more space to accommodate its growth and reflect its increasing profile. In 1926, the bank made plans to move again, this time constructing a new six story building at 165 Broadway, on the corner of Broadway and Cortlandt Street, closer to the Financial District. Chemical moved in after the building was completed in 1928, and the bank's headquarters remained there for more than five decades. Under Chairman Donald Platten, Chemical's headquarters was to move to 277 Park Avenue in 1979. The bank moved across Park Avenue in 1991 to occupy the former headquarters of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation at 270 Park Avenue, which remained the headquarters of Chemical's successor, JPMorgan Chase, until the building was vacated in 2018 in preparation for demolition and construction of a new JPMorgan Chase headquarters on the same site. JPMorgan Chase would return to 277 Park Avenue in 2000, following the departure of its previous tenant, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. In 2008, after JPMorgan acquired Bear Stearns, the bank moved its investment banking groups from Chemical's old headquarters to 383 Madison Avenue. After the old 270 Park Avenue was closed and demolished in 2018, JPMorgan moved its headquarters temporarily to 383 Madison Avenue; the headquarters was scheduled to be relocated to a new tower at 270 Park Avenue upon the structure's scheduled completion in 2025.

By the first decade of the 20th century, Chemical had one of the strongest reputations in banking but as a business was in decline, losing accounts each year. Unlike many of its peers, Chemical had been reluctant to expand into securities and other businesses and had not paid interest on bank accounts. Both practices, considered to be highly conservative, had allowed Chemical to develop a large capital reserve but were not attracting customers. William H. Porter, a prominent banker of the era, was named president of the bank in 1903 after the death of the previous president George G. Williams. In 1917, Chemical named a new president of the bank, Herbert Twitchell, after the death of Joseph B. Martindale. It was uncovered, just months after Martindale's death, that the former Chemical president had stolen as much as $300,000 from the account of Ellen D. Hunt, a niece of Wilson G. Hunt. Twitchell initiated a major turnaround of Chemical, setting up a trust business and reversing Chemical's policy of not paying interest on cash accounts. These steps along with other initiatives, resulted in an increase in deposits from $35 million to $81 million by 1920. Johnston would hold the presidency of the bank through 1946 at which time the bank had grown to become the seventh largest in the U. S.

In 1920, Chemical completed its first major acquisition, merging with Citizens National Bank. The acquisition of Citizens National, a small New York commercial bank, increased Chemical's assets to more than $200 million with more than $140 million of deposits. In 1923, Chemical established its first branch and by the end of the 1920s had opened a dozen branches in Manhattan and Brooklyn as well as a branch in London, its first international presence. In 1929, Chemical reincorporated as a state bank in New York as Chemical Bank & Trust Company and merged with the United States Mortgage & Trust Company, headquartered on the Madison Avenue and 74th Street. During the Depression era of the 1930s, Chemical's deposits grew by more than 40% and in 1941, the bank reached $1 billion of assets. During this period, Chemical also established Chemical National Company, a securities underwriting business.

In 1947, after the retirement of Percy Johnston, Harold Holmes Helm was named the new president of Chemical and would serve first as president and later as chairman of the bank for the next 18 years until his retirement in 1965. Under Helm, Chemical completed a series of large mergers in the late 1940s and early 1950s that again made the bank among the largest in the U. S. The merger with the Corn Exchange Bank added 98 additional branches to Chemical's system largely in the New York City and $774 million in deposits. At the time of the merger, Chemical Corn was the fourth largest bank in New York and New York Trust was the ninth largest bank and the merger created the third largest bank in New York, and the fourth largest in the U. S. with $3.8 billion of assets. Following the merger, the bank dropped the usage of the "corn exchange" from the corporate name to become the Chemical Bank New York Trust Company. In 1968, Chemical reorganized itself as a bank holding company, Chemical New York Corporation, which allowed for more rapid expansion. Throughout the early 1960s Chemical had begun to expand into New York's suburbs, opening branches on Long Island and in Westchester County. However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, Chemical was focused on building its international business. In these years, Chemical opened new offices in Frankfurt, Germany (1969), Zurich, Switzerland (1971), Brussels, Belgium (1971), Paris, France (1971) and Tokyo, Japan (1972). In 1975, Chemical acquired Security National Bank, which had a branch network on Long Island. In February, 1982, Southeast Banking Corporation (SBC), which had been rebuffed in its attempted to acquire Florida National sued to obtain an injunction against the Chemical merger. In early 1983, Southeast Banking Corporation dropped its takeover attempt and agreed to exchange their Florida National shares for 24 FNB branch offices and other consideration. Following the deal with SBC, Florida National was cleared to merge with Chemical, however interstate banking acquisitions were still prohibited by Federal law and required state legislative approval. With the 1990 deadline running out for its option to buy Florida National and no sign of state legislative approval, Chemical Bank sold their 4.9% interest to First Union Corporation for $115 million. Chemical completed its largest transaction of the 1980s in December 1986, when the bank agreed to acquire Texas Commerce Bank. The $1.1 billion transaction represented the largest interstate banking merger in U. S. history to that time. Texas Commerce, which was officially acquired in May 1987, was one of the largest bank holding companies in the Southwestern U. S., with a strong presence in corporate banking for small and medium sized businesses. Chemical did not seek Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation backing for its acquisition of Texas Commerce although other large Texas banks, First RepublicBank Corporation (Acquired by NationsBank) and MCorp Bank (acquired by Bank One), received over $5 billion of support. Ultimately Chemical contributed $300 million to shore Texas Commerce as it continued to suffer losses. Also in 1986, Chemical agreed to a merger with New Jersey based Horizon Bancorp, although the merger was not completed until 1989, due again to interstate banking rules. The bank's holding company, Chemical New York Corporation, was renamed the Chemical Banking Corporation in 1988 following its series of out of state mergers and acquisitions, including Texas Commerce Bank and Horizon Bancorp. It was during this period, in the 1980s and early 1990s, that Chemical emerged as one of the leaders in the financing of leveraged buyout transactions. By the late 1980s, Chemical developed its reputation for financing buyouts, building a syndicated leveraged finance business and related advisory businesses under the auspices of pioneering investment banker, Jimmy Lee. It was not until 1993 that Chemical would receive permission to underwrite corporate bonds, however within a few years, Chemical (and later Chase) became a major underwriter of below investment grade debt under Lee. Additionally, in 1984, Chemical launched Chemical Venture Partners to invest in private equity transactions alongside various financial sponsors.

In July 1991, Chemical announced that it would acquire Manufacturers Hanover Corporation in a $135 billion merger transaction. At the time of the merger, Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover were the sixth and ninth largest banks, respectively, by assets. The transaction, when it closed at the end of 1991, made the combined bank, which retained the Chemical name, the second largest bank in the U. S., behind Citicorp both in terms of assets and customers (approximately 1.2 million household accounts in 1991). Chemical adopted Manufacturers Hanover's logo design and moved into its headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in New York. In corporate banking, Manufacturers Hanover was better established with larger, blue chip companies, whereas Chemical had been stronger with small and medium sized businesses. Nationally, the combined Chemical Bank became one of the largest lenders to U. S. companies and was arguably the leader in loan syndication globally. Additionally, Chemical took a leading role providing foreign exchange, interest rate and currency swaps, corporate finance services, cash management, corporate and institutional trust, trade services and funds transfer. Chemical operated one of the nation's largest bank credit card franchises and was a major originator and servicer of home mortgages. In 1996, Chemical acquired Chase Manhattan Corporation in a merger valued at $10 billion to create the largest financial institution in the United States. Although Chemical was the acquiring company and the nominal survivor, the merged bank adopted the Chase name, which was considered to be better known, particularly internationally. Chase, which at its height had been the largest bank in the U. S., had fallen to sixth, while Chemical was the third largest bank at the time of the merger. The merger resulted in the reduction of more than 12,000 jobs between the two banks and merger related expenses of approximately $1.9 billion. The bank continued to operate under the Chase brand until its acquisition of J. P. Morgan & Co. in December 2000 to form JPMorgan Chase & Co. Throughout all of these acquisitions, Chemical's original management team, led by Walter V. Shipley, remained in charge of the bank. When the combined bank purchased J. P. Morgan & Co., William B. Harrison Jr., who had been a longtime Chemical executive, was named CEO of the combined firm. Additionally, many of Chemical's businesses remained intact through the various mergers. Chemical's private equity group for example, was renamed multiple times, ultimately becoming JP Morgan Partners before completing a spin out from the bank, as CCMP Capital, after the bank's 2004 merger with Bank One. Additionally, JPMorgan Chase retains Chemical's pre 1996 stock price history, as well as Chemical's old headquarters at 270 Park Avenue.

Chemical was among the pioneers of electronic online banking. On September 2, 1969, Chemical installed the first automated teller machine (ATM) at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York. The first ATMs were designed to dispense a fixed amount of cash when a user inserted a specially coded card. A Chemical Bank advertisement boasted "On Sept. 2 our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again." Chemical's ATM, initially known as a Docuteller, was designed by Donald Wetzel and his company Docutel. Chemical executives were initially hesitant about the electronic banking transition given the high cost of the early machines. Additionally, executives were concerned that customers would resist having machines handling their money. In 1982, Chemical initiated the first personal computer based banking system when it launched a pilot electronic banking program called Pronto. Chemical had spent $20 million to develop the software for Pronto. However, a year after launching Pronto only 21,000 of Chemical's 1.15 million customers were using the system, in large part due to the high monthly subscription costs that Chemical charged customers to use it. By 1985, it was clear that Pronto, which was heavily promoted by Chemical, was growing much slower than anticipated. In 1985, Chemical and BankAmerica, another pioneer in electronic banking, entered into a joint venture with AT&T Corporation and Time Inc., known as Covidea, to market banking and discount stock brokerage services to computer equipped households. Eventually Chemical discontinued its efforts in 1989 at a loss of nearly $30 million.